Max Verstappen again and again

The Dutchman celebrated his 14th victory of the season on Sunday at the Qatar Grand Prix north of Doha; the day before, the 26-year-old had secured his third world title in a row with a second place in the sprint. The podium was completed by the once again fast McLaren duo Oscar Piastri, who had triumphed in the sprint, and Lando Norris.

Verstappen celebrated his 49th victory in the premier class in the Persian Gulf in a Grand Prix with several mandatory pit stops at the Lusail International Circuit. After the 17th race of the season, Verstappen now leads the overall World Cup standings by 209 points ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez, who finished tenth and only scored one point. It was the 16th triumph this year for Red Bull, which won the constructors' championship title in Japan two weeks ago. The American triple continues in two weeks in Austin (USA), Mexico and Brazil.

Max Verstappen (front) celebrated a start-to-finish victory. © APA/afp / ARIEL SCHALIT

“It was a difficult race, the McLarens were extremely fast again,” said Verstappen, who was also asked about the previous night of partying. “We enjoyed it a bit yesterday, but we still have a few races to go.” Piastri was also overjoyed at the finish line. “The first corner was very good for me. It was the hardest race of my life,” said Piastri, considering the high temperatures in the desert. “It was a mega race,” added Norris, who started the race from tenth place on the grid. His team also excelled with a short 1,8 second pit stop. Mercedes driver George Russell finished fourth despite a collision with teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Sainz was not allowed to start Before the Grand Prix, the FIA, the world automobile association, had stipulated that the drivers were only allowed to use their tire sets for a maximum of 18 laps due to potentially serious damage. This meant that all drivers had to pit at least three times over the race distance of 57 laps. Violation of this rule could result in disqualification. The tire problems were already an issue on Saturday; the tires from manufacturer Pirelli were significantly more affected than usual on the retreaded track in the desert state due to the high curbs. The race took place without Carlos Sainz, the Spaniard's Ferrari was not ready to start due to a problem with the fuel system.

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Max Verstappen again and again

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen also won the first race as triple Formula 1 world champion in a confident manner.

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